Motor Racing: Capelli hastens departure

IVAN CAPELLI, the 29-year-old Italian Formula One driver, has left Ferrari, the team announced yesterday.

Ferrari said the split was an amicable one, and that the Milanese driver will be replaced by another Italian, Nicola Larini, 28, for the remaining Japanese and Australian grands prix.

Capelli, who has scored only three points so far this season in the drivers' championship, was already set to leave the team at the end of the season, to be replaced next year by the Austrian Gerhard Berger.

Michael Andretti, who is taking Berger's place at McLaren next season, tomorrow attempts to overtake Al Unser Jr and Bobby Rahal in the American Indycar series at the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, the penultimate event, as the championship reaches the closest finish in its history with a four-way battle for the title. Andretti won an extra championship point by taking pole position yesterday in a track record speed of 181.435mph.